Hand operated loom



Nov. 9, 1937. D c, CHURCL LL 2,098,449

HAND CPERAT ED LOOM Filed Dec. 20, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

David C. Churn/HI].

Y fie'w ame 9- ATTORNEY.

D. c. CHURCHILL 2,093,449

HAND OPERATED LOOM Filed Dec. 20, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 9, 1937.

ATTdRNEY.

9, 1937- D. c. CHURCHILL 2,098,449

HAND OPERATED LOOM Filed Dec. 20, 1935 1 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 1N VENTOR. David C Church/4 ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 9, 1937 UK 1''. STAT ES PATENT 1 4 Claims.

This invention relates to textile loomsof the hand-operated type.

Heretoiore, textile looms have generally been of such size and weight and cost as to prohibit their general introduction into individual homes or their extensive use in schools, et cetera. Textile weaving thus has never been available in the home as pick-up work as have knitting crocheting, vet cetera, and even in schools and other institutions where weaving is sometimes taught there is seldom if ever a loom available for each pupil.

Furthermore, even the simplest of manually operated looms have heretofore required the laying of the warp threads upon the beams of the loom before weaving can be begun or a change made from one kind of work to another, and this tedious ti nae-consuming operation has heretofore discouraged those who otherwise might become interested. and ultimately skilled in weaving.

t is therefore one of the main objects of this invention to provide a practical loom which can be constructed so cheaplyand which may be so small in size and light in weight and simpleto operate as to overcome the above mentioned objections to prior looms, and to make weaving so attractive and simple that it will be practiced by ,the individual as generally as crocheting, knitting, et cetera, in the home, school, et cetera.

Other objects of the invention are:

To provide a loom having improved construction whereby work-which has been set up in the loom and started may be removed intact'without damage thereto, together with the warp supply,

at any time, and other work and warp substituted therefor quickly and conveniently;

To provide a loom of the refill type inwhich the Warp and the beater reed and heddles maybe removedas an assembled unit and another warp and beater reed and heddle assembly set thereinto ready for work;

To provide an improved construction of reed and heddle and warp elements which may be manufactured and sold assembled together as a unit, and which may be quickly and conveniently set into a loom in condition ready for weaving or quickly and conveniently removed as a unit from the loom;

To provide for looms an improved shedding mechanism;

To provide an improved beating mechanism;

To provide an improved warp beam construction;

To provide a warp beam having an improved let-out mechanism;

To provide animproved cloth or work beam construction;

To provide a cloth ibearn having an improved take-up mechanism;

Toprovideoan improved reed mechanism;

To provide an improved reed mounting mechanism;

To provide generally an improved manually operated loom construction;

'Io providea textile loom which may be operatedand adjusted entirely without the use of tools'or other accessory devices.

' Other objects will be apparent tothose skilled in the art to which my invention appertains.

My invention is fully disclosed in the following description takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, with parts brokenaway for'clearness, of a loom embodying my invention; I

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 taken from the opposite side thereof with parts broken away for clearness;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken approximately fromthe plane 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4;is a cross-sectional view taken approximately from vthe plane 44 of Fig.

Fig. 5. is a fragmentary view similar to a part of Fig. l-illustrating partsthereof in difierent positions; and the view may be considered as taken fromithe plane 5-5 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6. is a view of the parts of Fig. 5, the view being taken in the directionoi the arrow 6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 5 with the parts thereof in a still different position;

Fig. 8 is a view taken approximately from the direction of the-arrow 8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a view of certain parts shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 7, drawn substantially to'thepreferred full scale and with the parts in difierent operative positions;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view of a part of a lease reed which I may employ, the viewbeing taken substantially, from the same direction as Figs. 6 and '8;

Fig. 11 is a side elevational view showing separately some of the elements of the other figures and constituting a refill unit which I may employ;

.Figf12 is a top plan view of the parts of Fig. 11;

.Fig. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view. taken from the plane l3l3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary elevational view taken from the direction of the arrow M of Fig. 3;

Fig. is a fragmentary sectional view taken from the plane |5|5 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 16 and 17 are views similar to Figs. 11 and 12, but illustrating'another form which the refill unit may have, and drawn to a smaller scale- Referring to the drawings, I have shown generally at I a main frame upon which the parts of the loom are mounted, comprising a base 2 and a pair of spaced side rails 3 and 4. A cloth beam 5 to be more fully described is rotatably mounted on the rails 3 and 4 at one end of the base and a warp beam 6 is mounted at the other end. Warp threads I wound in a supply several layers deep on the beam 6 at one end are wound at their other ends on the beam 5 and as the'process of weaving to be described progresses, become woven fabric indicated at 8, Fig. 3.

Between the two beams, the warp 1 is stretched over transverse lease bars 9 and III, the bar 9 being conveniently supported by a pair of studs on the side rails 3 and 4 projected through suitable perforations in opposite ends of the bar 9, and the bar ID being supported by downwardly extending arms |2-|2 at opposite ends thereof inserted in bores l3 (see Fig. 2) in the side rails.

Means will now be described by which the warp threads 7 stretched between the bars 9 and H! are shedded and by which, after a shuttle trailing a weft thread is passed therethrough, the latter is beaten up into the fell or edge of the cloth. In the inner face of each of the rails 3 and 4 is provided a groove or guideway I4 and 15 thus providing a pair of parallel grooves to guide the slides l6 and I1. The slides l6 and H are connected by three transversely extending rods l8, l9 and 20. The ends of the rods may be driven into bores in the guides l6 and IT to rigidly connect them so that the guides and the rods may move back and forth as a unit.

A pair of uprights 2 |--2| extend upwardly from the rods l8 and I 9 near each end thereof and are connected together near the upper ends by bridging members 22-22 and the bridging members 22 and the uprights 2| may be and preferably are integral. Upon the bridging members 22 is mounted a finger rest 23 which may be made of wood or other suitable material. Each pair of uprights 2|--2| may be joined by a tie 24. The uprights 2| and bridging members 22 are thus connected rigidly to the slides l6 and l! and the slides may be reciprocated by push or pull forces applied or transmitted to the uprights 2|.

Upon opposite end portions of the bar are oscillatably mounted bell crank elements 25-25 comprising arms 26 and 21 on substantially opposite sides of the bar 20. A weight bar 28 is connected at opposite ends to the bell crank arms 26- 26. A frame indicated generally at 29 is supported upon the bell crank arms 25, the frame comprising a horizontal bar 30 oscillatably supported in the ends of the arms 25 and having uprights 3|3| extending upwardly from the bar 36 and rigidly connected at their upper ends to a hand bar 32. The opposite uprights 3| are also rigidly connected together by a reed support 33, the hand bar 32 and reed support 33, preferably being made from wood or like material. Arms rigidly connected to the uprights 3|3l have at their free ends grooved wheels thereon disposed between the above described uprights 2| 2| and adapted to slide or roll vertically therebetween.

The parts just described are so made and proportioned that normally they will take up the position illustrated in Fig. l, in which the weight bar 28 has rocked around until it is in substantially a horizontal plane with the rod 20 on which the bell crank oscillates and in this position it balances the weight of the bar 30, uprights 33, hand bar 32, arms 34 and wheels 35 and other parts associated therewith to be described.

To insure that the frame 29 comprising the above listed parts occupies the predetermined desired position which will become clear hereinafter,

, the effectiveness of the weight bar 28 may be adjustably varied by means of supplemental weights 3636, best shown in Figs. 6 and 8, which may be attached to the weight bar 28 by bolts 3|3l.

Mounted upon the frame 29 and movable therewith is a lease reed construction indicated generally at 38 and shown separately in Figs. 9 and 10. The lease reed, Figs. 9 and 10, comprises a plurality of reed elements 39-39 preferably formed from sheet metal strips perforated at their opposite ends and in their intermediate portions provided with elongated perforations or eyes 40- 40. The metal surrounding the eyes 40 is twisted out of the plane of the reed elements so that when the reed elements are disposed edgewise as shown in Fig. 10, the eyes will be open in the e-dgewise direction. The reed elements are spaced apart by rubber or like preferably compressible washers 4|, and bolts or rivets 42 having heads 43 on their opposite ends are inserted through the Washers 4 I and through the above-mentioned perforations in the reed elements, clearly shown in the lower part of Fig. 10; and the reed elements are thus all mounted upon the rivets or bolts 42 as a complete assembled unit in predetermined spaced relation from each other. Any suitable number of the reed elements 39 may thus be assembled into the lease reed unit 38, there being half as many reed elements as there are warp threads on the loom.

The reed support 33 above described has a groove 44 in the upper side thereof, and the hand bar 32 has an open sided groove 45 therein. The grooves 44 and 45 are spaced apart to admit therein the lease reed unit 33, the unit being first placed in the lower groove 44 and. then rocked inwardly into the groove 45. The hand bar 32 is preferably made in two parts 32 and 32a hinged together as at 46 and the part 32a, may be hingingly moved around to the position illustrated in Fig. l to clamp the upper portion of the lease reed unit in the groove 45. When it is so clamped, the rubber washers 4|4| may be compressed against adjacent wall portions of the notch and groove to render secure the engagement of the lease reed unit with the reed support 33 and hand bar 32.

To hold. the hand bar part 32a in clamping position as referred to, a pair of clip devices 4? is provided, each rotatable around a screw and comprising opposite fingers 49 which may be rotated from the position illustrated in fig. 9 to that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 6, for example, to hold the id bar portions 32 and in the lease reed chimp-ing position referred to; and the devices 4? may have bent-up portions 53, best shown in Fig. 6, by which they may be twisted to release the clamping action for removal of the lease reed unit.

When the warp threads on the warp beam 6 are, in settin up the loom for work, passed over to and upon the cloth beam alternate threads are passed between adjacent reed elements 39 as shown at 5|--5|, Fig. 10; and the other alternate threads are passed through the eyes dii as shown at'52-'52.

The means for drawing the warp threads tight on the cloth beam will be described hereafter.

As will be apparent, if the lease reed construction 38 is raised, for exampleto the position shown in Fig. 5, the warp threads 52 in the eyes 58 will be raised above thewarp threads -5l, forming a shedfor the shuttle (which,as-in well known practice, is thrown transversely-of-the warp through the shed); and if the lease reed 38 is lowered, for example to the position shown in Fig. '7, the shed will be formed with the threads 52 below the threads5l. The parts are preferably so arranged that when the frame 29 as a whole is in its normal position counterbalanced by the weight-28 as shown in Fig. 1, there will be a small depth of shed as-shown at 53.

The operations of shedding and beating will now be described. To form a shed for-the shuttle, as shown in Fig. 5, the operator may place the thumb of one hand as shown at 54 under the edge of the hand bar '32 and place the fingers of the hand asshown at upon the finger rest 23. By pulling upward on the handbar 32, the entire frame 29 will move upwardly, the wheels 3535 rolling or sliding between the uprights Zl-M and at the lower end of the frame 29 the bar 39 will oscillate the bell crank 25 around the bar 26, thus rotating the weight 28 counterclockwise as viewed in Fig.5. A pair of stops are provided preferably in the form of fingers extending below the bar l9 and the weight 28 (or the weights 35 if such weights are used) will engage the stop 56 and be stopped thereon.

The parts referred to and as hereinbefore described, provide a toggle arrangement, including the arm 26 of the bell crank 25 and the side frame members 3|. The downward-thrust of the now stretched warpthreads 52 pushing downwardly on the reed unit 38 exerts a downward thrust at the pivot connection 5'! of the frame and bell crank 25, and if the bell crank 25 be rotated by the above described lifting operation so that the pivot connection 5! lies to the left of a line drawn from the eye 4!] to the bar' -ZQ, this thrust will tend to rock the bell crank counter-clockwise, and inasmuch as the bell crank is stopped upon the stop 55, and cannot-rotate, the frame 29 is thereby locked in its position shown in Fig. 5 with the warp threads shcdded. The inertia of the weight 28 (or 28 and 36 if the weights 36 are used) will, following a quick upward thrust by the thumb, easily carry the bell crank 25 to the toggle locking position illustrated and described above.

The shed now being formed, a shuttle 'may be thrown therethrough in the usual manner, and this being so well understood in this art, is not illustrated. When the shuttle has'been thrown and the weft thread lies in the shed, the beating operation is performed by the operator, moving his fingers 55 from the finger rest23- and'gripping the hand bar 32 and pulling thereon in' the direction away from the finger rest 23, that is, toward the cloth beam. This movement will first break the above described toggle by rotating the bell crank 25 clockwise as viewed in Fig. 5. The frame 29 will then drop; partly by gravity and partly by the force of the stretched warp threads 52, to the normal position illustrated in Fig; 1 at which the warp threads are slightly shedded; and by a continuation, uninterrupted, of this same movement of the hand, the operator draws the hand bar 32 towards the cloth beam, toward the left as viewed inFigs/I and 5, and the reed elements 39 ofthe lease reed unit 38 will themselves' perfor-mthe beating operation at the fell which is, as will be understood, located approximately at'the point 91 inFig. 1.

By providing the small shed 53 referred to, the

warp threads will not tend to intermingle and prevent a clean beating operation.

As is-well known in loom operations, the shed must next be made in the opposite direction, that isto say, in the direction indicated in 7. To=this end, the operator first pushes backward on the hand bar 32, moving it to the position of Fig. 1, and restoring again the small bridge 53 to again clearly separate the warp threads. Then, by means of his thumb as shown at M in-Fig. 7, the operator presses downwardly on'the hand'bar'd? and this operation may be assisted if desiredby slightly hooking the fingers of the hand as shown at 55,- Fig. '7, under the finger rest 23. This operation moves the parts from the position of Fig. lto that of Fig. '7, the wheels 5:35 moving vertically between the-bars ii--26, and the bell crank 25 being rotated clockwisearound the bar 29. In this movement, the weight 23 by its inertia will carry the pivot connection at '51 around clockwise until the bar 20 on which the bell crank oscillates is to the right of a line drawn between the pivot connection 57 and the eye 40 in which the warp threads 52 are disposed, the warp threads now exerting an upward thrust onthe frame-29 and holding the toggle locked in the position illustrated, holding the-shed forrned in the lower position illustrated. And again this operation may be performed by a quick downward thrust on the hand bar 32.

The shuttle may now-again be thrown through the shed and immediatelythereaiter the fingers at 55 may be'removed from the finger rest 23 and inserted behind the hand bar 32 and by simply pulling thereon, the toggle will be broken and by a continuation of the same movement the beating operation will again be performed.

As above referred to, the inertia. of the weight 28 will assist completion of the toggle locking movement of the mechanism, but this is not essential and the mechanism as illustrated will move and effect a toggle lock in each direction whether the movement is-slow or fast. As shown in Fig. '7, the movement of the mechanism in formingthe shed may definitely be stopped by engagement of the weight 28 with the lower part of the reedassembly 38, or, if preferred, upon an adjacent part of the reed support 33; so that the motion in either shedding direction is positively stopped at a predetermined amount of shed so that the operation is uniform.

As will be seen by the foregoing, the shedding and beating operations may be performed with one hand and that the shed is formed in either direction by a simple vertical movement and the beating is effected-after each shed by a simple horizontal pull movement.

Referring now to the construction of the beams, thewarp beam is shown in Figs. 1, 2 andi. The beam li comprises a pair of inner spindle clements"58 and 59, coaxially aligned and provided at their'outer ends with tongues 60 and 6! which are normally disposed in recesses 52 in the side rails 3 and 4 to hold them against rotation. Between the inner ends of the spindle portions 58 and 58 is a fixed disc or a cylinder 63 of rubber or other compressible expansible material. A bolt 64 extends preferably axially through the tongues '60 and BI and through thespindle elements 58 and 59 and the rubber cylinder 63, and

is secured to the spindle element 58 by a transverse pin extending through the bolt and spindle elements, and has a head or nut 65 at one end and a wing nut 66 at the other end, whereby upon rotating the wing nut the rubber disc 63 may be compressed or allowed to expand axially.

Telescoped over the spindle elements 58 and 59 and the rubber cylinder 63 is a tubular body 61 of a spool indicated'generally at 68 having spool heads 69-59 secured thereto. The warp threads I referred to hereinbefore are wound or wrapped on the spool 68.

In the normal operation of the loom, a wing nut 66 is turned to compress the rubber cylinder 63 and expand it outwardly radially to engage the inner wall of the tubular body 61 of the spool 68 to thereby rigidly connect the spool to the spindle elements. The spindle elements are connected against rotation to the side rails 3 and 4 as above described so that the spool is prevented from rotating. The warp may now be stretched and the weaving operation be performed, and when it is desired to take up the work on the cloth beam to be described, the wing nut 66 may be loosened which will permit the spool 68 to turn on the rubber cylinder 63, and after again tightening the wing nut 65, the warp may be again stretched.

The construction just described permits of removal of the spool 68, and to this end the wing nut 66 may be loosened and the spool 68 turned to loosen the warp whereupon the tongues'fill and SI may be withdrawn from the recesses 6282 and the spool may then be telescoped endwise off of the spindle elements. The purpose of this construction willbe referred to later.

The construction of the cloth beam is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The cloth beam 5 comprises a pair of spindle elements 18 and H and a rubber cylinder [2 therebetween. The spindle element H is rotatably supported in a bore 13 in the frame side rail 3, having 'a bearing portion 18 of reduced diameter for that purpose. The spindle element 18 likewise has a reduced diameter portion l5 which is rotatably supported in a C-form recess 16 in the rail 4. The cloth beam is normally held by the tension of the web in the direction to keep the neck 15 from coming out of the recess 76; but to prevent accidental removal thereof when there is no tension on the warp, a pin l! is provided vertically slidable in a pocket '58 in the rail and held in the position projecting out of the pocket by a spring 19. Upon depressing the pin against the spring tension, the neck 15 is released and may be removed from the recess for a purpose to be described.

A ratchet wheel 88 is secured to the spindle element l8 outwardly of the rail 4, the wheel serving also as a hand wheel for rotating the cloth beam 5 and for this purpose finger holes 8! may be provided therein. A ratchet pawl 82 engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel 80, being springpressed thereagainst by a spring 83, the ratchet being formed so that the hand wheel 88 may be rotated clockwise as viewed in Fig. 2 and is prevented thereby from rotating counterclockwise; but to permit the wheel to be rotated counterclockwise, the pawl 82 may be depressed by the thumb or finger engaging the portion thereof which projects above the base 2 as clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

The ratchet wheel 80 is preferably removably secured upon the spindle element 5 and to this end the neck.15 outwardly of the recess 16 is provided with a tongue 84 which projects through a correspondingly shaped perforation 85 in the wheel, shoulders 86 being provided at the sides of the tongue. A bolt 81 extends axially through the spindle elements and H and through the neck and tongue 84, and is threaded at one end into a nut 88 and is secured to the spindle element II! by a transverse pin extending through the bolt and spindle elements. The nut 88 may be rotated to align it with the perforation 85 in the wheel and the wheel may then be withdrawn over the nut, or, with the wheel in position on the neck 84, the nut may be turned to overlap the wheel at the edges of the perforation 85 to clamp it against the shoulders 86. In the preferred construction, the nut 88 is made of wood or like ma.- terial and a metal nut 89 is embedded therein.

The opposite end of the bolt 81 extends outwardly through the neck I5 and has a wing nut 98 thereon. A tube 9| is telescoped over the aligned spindle elements 10 and H and rubber cylinder 12 and has, at the beginning of the weaving operation, the warp wound thereon and as the work proceeds has the cloth indicated at 82 wound thereon. In the normal operation of the loom, the work or cloth is kept wound up to keep the warp tight by means of the ratchet hand Wheel 88 and the tube 9| is rigidly connected to the spindle element so as to draw upon the warp by the expansion of the rubber cylinder into frictional engagement with its inner wall by the wing nut 98 in a manner more fully described in connection with the other beam and Fig. 4.

The tube 9|, however, may be removed from the beam by depressing the pawl 82 to relieve the tension of the warp, and then after turning the beam to give slack in the warp, the neck '15 may be drawn out of the recess 15 by first depressing the pin TI and then the neck 15 may be drawn longitudinally out of the bearing 13; then, after loosening the grip upon the tube 94 by loosening the wing nut 90, the tube and the work thereon may be telescoped oif of the spindle elements 18 and H.

By the warp beam and cloth beam constructions above described, the warp may at any time be loosened at the warp beam and taken up, as the work progresses, at the cloth beam, and the warp at all times maintained tight between the beams for the weaving operation above described.

As described in connection with Figs. 9 and 10, the lease reed structure 38 may be mounted in the shedding frame 29 or removed therefrom as a unit. It has also been described above how the warp beam spool 68 and the cloth beam tube 9| may be removed from their supports by telescopically sliding them off of the spindles which support them. It will therefore be clear that the warp supply and the cloth or work whether finished or not and the warp thereon and the lease reed 38 may be removed as an assembled unit and maintained intact, the lease reed 38 being retained on the warp threads by the fact that alternate threads are embraced by the eyes 48. Such an assembled unit is illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12, the view being somewhat diagrammatic and drawn to a smaller scale. By this means, one of the important advantages of my invention may be enjoyed, which will now be described.

I may provide refill units in great numbers and therefore cheaply, each consisting of the warp spool 68, cloth tube 9|, warp I thereon and reed unit 38 on the warp. These may be provided in various widths and colors of warp. The operator of a loom such as that described above may quickly and conveniently put this unit into the loom by simply telescoping the tube and spool on their respective spindles and mounting the reed units 38 on the frame 29 as above described. In this connection it will be observed that if the warp spool is first mounted in position, the cloth tube and the reed construction may thereafter be projected through the frame 29, the vertical and horizontal space between the hand bar 32 and reed support 33 being made sufficient for this purpose, as illustrated.

Similarly, if after a piece of work has been started but not completed, and it be desired to change over to another piece of work, the unfinished work may be removed from the loom by telescoping the spool and tube off from their spindles and removing the reed unit from its mounting and then removing the spool, tube, warp and reed from the loom, laying them aside for further use at a later time and substituting new work therefor.

By this means the tedious operation which has been heretofore necessary of stringing or laying the warp threads through the eyes of the reeds or heddles and winding them smoothly and with uniform tension upon the cloth beam are an unnecessary so far as the operator of the loom is concerned, these operations all being performed by the manufacturer when the said refill unit is made.

As illustrated and described hereinbefore, the cloth beam removable element is in the form of a tube and the Warp removable element in the form of a spool. It will be understood that this difference in these elements is not necessary and that both of them can be tubes. This is illustrated in Figs. 16 and 17 in which a tube 95 and a tube 96, identical therewith, as preferred, are shown, together with the lease reed 38 and Warp thread I threaded through the reed and Wound on the tubes. For most work with these refill units, a relatively thin layer of warp thread I will be necessary to be wound on the tube 965 and the head of the spool 69 shown and described above will be unnecessary. Omitting the head of the spool furthermore renders the two tubes in the lease reed more compact whereby they may be rolled up together into sufliciently small volume to be carried in a ladys hand bag or to be slipped into a mailing tube. Such close-coupled assembly is illustrated in Figs. 16 and 17 and the means by which such a small-sized refill unit for looms is made possible, is one of the essential features of my invention.

Thus I have provided, in the above described refill unit, a new article of manufacture and a new method of operating looms.

My invention is not limited to the exact details of construction illustrated and described. Many changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of my invention without sacrificing its advantages and within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a loom, a main frame, a rotatable cloth beam comprising spaced cylindrical bearing portions, a bore on the frame for one bearing portion, a recess in the frame for the other bearing portion and means for retaining it in the recess, comprising an obstruction projecting into the recess in front of the corresponding bearing portion and resiliently operably yieldable to remove it from recess obstructing position, the beam being removable from the bearing portions by lateral movement from the recess after manually effected operation of the yieldable obstruction and by subsequent longitudinal movement from the bore.

2. In a loom, a main frame, a warp beam comprising a tubular portion rotatable on the frame, means to optionally non-rotatively secure the tubular portion to the beam, tongue portions at opposite ends of the beam, recesses in the frame for receiving the tongues, warp on the tubular portion, means for tensioning and untensioning the warp, the tongues being adapted to be normally held in the recesses solely by the tension of the warp, and the beam being freely removable from the frame by removing the tongues from the recesses after untensioning of the warp.

3. A loom as described in claim 2 and in which the securing means is carried by the beam and operable externally thereof.

4. A warp refill unit for hand operated textile looms comprising a pair of tubes adapted to be telescoped over the warp and cloth beams respectively of the loom, warp wound on both tubes, and a reed element intermeshed with the warp between the said tubes and adapted to be detachably secured to the loom shedding mechanism.

DAVID C. CHURCHILL. 

